I’ve been watching with interest the latest growing fad in the fashion industry. I first heard whispers of this about two years ago. Wearing short kimono’s as a soft jacket. I’ve always viewed kimonos in two ways, first the beautiful full length Japanese traditional dress made of some of the most fantastic silks, they are usually very decorative & the most beautiful colours you can imagine. Then there is the watered down version which we quite often wear as dressing gowns.

I do a course when we make what I call a Wrap in one day. This is a 3/4 length dressing gown to slip on after you have had a shower or bath. The picture below shows you the finished garment.

Wrap in a Day as made on the Wrap in a Day course.

The latest version of this amazing garment is a shorter jacket length. The tie belt has been moved to the back to leave the front open. I’ve seen it made it various fabrics floaty chiffons, cotton & heavy satins. I made a version of it in one of the satin fabrics we have in stock.

wrap or kimono

As you can see from the photo it goes very well with the new bubble lace fabric. My sister Wendy made the dress & was delighted to find out that the kimono I’d made matched it beautifully! This wasn’t planned but I don’t think the sample will be in the shop for very long.

So what is the difference between all these styles. Answer, not a lot. apart from cutting the length a bit shorter & a few trimming details there is no difference.

The next time I’m teaching the Wrap in a day course is on Tuesday 19th September. If you would like to make a kimono instead of the usual wrap we make, book on to the course now & be in fashion for the Autumn months. It really is a very easy garment to make so even if you don’t have very much experience of dressmaking you could make this garment.